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POPSCarmina Burana composer Carl Orff's lie! Two years later, after Germany’s surrender, Orff himself was interrogated – by an American intelligence officer who had to establish whether Orff could be “denazi-fied”. That would allow Orff (among other things) to collect the massive royalties from Carmina Burana. The American asked Orff if he could think of a single thing he had done to stand up to Hitler, or to distance himself from the policies of the Third Reich? Orff had done nothing of that kind. So he made up a brazen lie. Knowing that anyone who might contradict him was likely to be dead, he told Jenkins that he had co-founded Die Weisse Rose with his friend, Kurt Huber. He was believed – or at least, not sufficiently disbelieved to have his denazification delayed. ----------- The opening line of Carmina Burana – “O Fortuna!” – could hardly be more apt. Few composers felt themselves more at the mercy of capricious gods and twists of fate than its composer, Carl Orff.
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POPSChina cracks down on activists continues: However, Beijing has reacted by jailing some of Charter 08's public supporters. At least 70 of the original signatories have been summoned or interrogated by the police. Prominent dissident Liu Xiaobo has been put under house arrest. The writer Wen Kejian has been detained in the resort city of Hangzhou, close to Shanghai. Police have also ransacked the Beijing home of Zhang Zuhua, one of the main authors of the charter, confiscating his passport as well as his computers, books and notebooks.
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POPSHamas Moves On Fatah 'Collaborators'~Executed 35 Palestinians
"They have been waging a brutal campaign against Fatah members in the Gaza Strip." Meanwhile, sources close to Hamas revealed over the weekend that the movement had "executed" more than 35 Palestinians who were suspected of collaborating with Israel and were being held in various Hamas security installations. The sources quoted Hamas officials as saying that the decision to kill the suspected collaborators was taken out of fear that Israel might try to rescue them during a ground offensive. The officials claimed that at least half of the victims were killed by relatives of Palestinian militiamen who were killed as a result of information passed on to Israel by the "collaborators." Justifying the latest crackdown on Fatah, a Hamas official in Gaza City said that his government had received information according to which Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas had instructed his loyalists in the Strip to start moving toward undermining Hamas.
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POPSMan arrested for wearing 'POLICE' t-shirt Our police-state is getting touchy. After writing a non-traffic complaint, Vernatti let Weinstein go, first telling him how lucky he was not to be charged with a felony and to be placed in jail. Eventually, Belleville's prosecuting attorney dropped the case. In the five-count suit, Weinstein is seeking actual damages in excess of $250,000, punitive damages in excess of $200,000, plus attorney's fees, costs and other relief the court deems just.
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POPS"They've got the guys. They have the confessions. . . . . . . . What do they do now?" the diplomat said. "We need to see that this is more than a show. We want to see the entire infrastructure of terror dismantled. There needs to be real prosecutions this time." A spokesman for new president Asif Ali Zardari, Farhatullah Babar, said Tuesday that he wasn't aware of the Pakistani investigation yet producing any links between Lashkar militants and the Mumbai attacks. "The Interior Ministry has already stated that the government of Pakistan has not been furnished with any evidence," he said. The Pakistani security official cautioned that the investigation is still in early stages and a more full picture could emerge once India decides to share more information. Pakistani authorities didn't have evidence that Lashkar was involved in the attacks before the militants' arrest in Kashmir, the security official said; they were captured based only on initial guidance from U.S and British authorities.
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POPSironic In this two image composite, Laura Zuniga is crowned as Miss Sinaloa state at left in the city of Mazatlan, Mexico July 8, 2008 and is shown to the press with unidentified gunmen after her arrest in the city of Zapopan, Mexico Tuesday Dec. 23, 2008. Police said Zuniga who was stopped at a checkpoint, was riding in one of two trucks with seven men, where soldiers found a large stash of weapons and some $53,300 in U.S. currency.
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POPSMan faces death for co-operating with ICC on Darfur war crimes The ICC has already issued arrest warrants for Haroun and a Darfur militia leader. Sudan, which is not a signed-up member of the international court, has refused to hand them over. In July, the ICC’s chief prosecutor also asked judges to issue a warrant for Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, accusing him of orchestrating genocide in the region.
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POPSSanta, Enemy Combatant It seems that the reindeer formerly known as Blitzen had recently converted to Islam, assuming his new name, ablitzu-az-adeer. These facts remained unconfirmed however as Ridge stated, “we had solid intelligence, increased chatter levels, and unnamable sources close to the detainee which gave us pause to believe that he was planning a major operation, covering several countries in the world, later this month. It involved the delivery of multiple “packages” to unsuspecting domestic targets”. When asked if these packages were actually referred to as “presents” by the incarcerated, Mr. Ridge replied, “Yes, there is apparently no end to his twisted sickness”.
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POPSArizona deputies arrest people for applauding dissent Fanatical anti-immigrant sheriff has turned Supervisors' meetings into clampdown on dissent. Those who briefly applaud officially-recognized speakers who disagree with the Sheriff are arrested. Intimidation of dissent appears to be the plan.
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POPSAn American Hero. Why O Why O Why cannot we find one? After the debacle of the cash for honours non-inquiry, the numerous looks at the slip and slide in standards of our MPs, would it not be nice, for once, for a high official to tell the truth about the dross who purport to be our leaders? Instead, what do we get? Yates of Scotland Yard apologising for everything from the illegal arrest in Parliament of a duty bound official doing his duty, to the unseemly prosecution of an innocent man, Peter Stagg, for a heinous murder two decades ago. Have a MERRY CHRISTMAS!
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POPSThe Madoff Economy The pay system on Wall Street lavishly rewards the appearance of profit, even if that appearance later turns out to have been an illusion.
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